Alpha Journal #4 at Dungeons & Dragons Online

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After some introductory stuff and general mechanics, there's some more specific info. The fourth issue is devoted to clerics but not exactly clerics as you may know them from previous D&D computer games or pen and paper sessions. Here's a snip:

Future residents of Stormreach, let me share with you a bit of my experiences as a cleric. Like in traditional D&D, the cleric is both a formidable caster and warrior. They are nothing like the robe-wearing, sissy healers with whom MMORPG veterans are likely familiar. No, these holy warriors can dish out a beating, take punishment and heal themselves and their allies for another serving of beat down.

When I began my human cleric, I started him out with 14 STR, 12 DEX, 12 CON, 10 INT, 14 WIS, and 14 CHA using the point buy. I went with that because it gives me a nice bonus to hit and damage, solid turning ability, a good amount of spell points, decent hit points with the 20 HP buff all heroes get and full AC when I eventually wear full plate.

A 20 HP buff doesn't so bad. KotOR did it for ease of use and it worked. A serious downside would be the fact that for a barbarian, the difference is way less than for a wizard or sorcerer. However, read on:

After a few quests I gained my first action point. I was able to choose from the following: Skill Tactics, for a boost to diplomacy and concentration by +2; Extra Turning, for 2 more turn undead attempts per day; Skill Recovery, for a boost to heal and repair of +2; Human Versatility I, a human-only enhancement granting a +1 to all skills; and Energy of the Zealot, which grants an extra 30 spell points, enough to cast 3 extra first level spells. I picked up Energy of the Zealot for some more casting power to start.

It's not like I don't like the idea of action points per se, but someone has been announcing that Stormreach is the best reflection of pen and paper possible. Perhaps some dungeon master's use it but it's quite far from core books. Or:

Soon enough, I hit level 2. I gained the HP, extra spell slot, better base attack bonus and saves, and extra spell points that you'd expect. In the course of Level 2, I'll have some new action point enhancements to choose, including Cleric's Wisdom which grants a bonus point to wisdom, Skill Tactics II, Skill Recovery II both giving an extra +1 bonus over their predecessors, and Energy of the Zealot II for an extra 10 spell points.

Again, that doesn't sound bad as a game enhancement idea, but it doesn't resemble the classic D&D character advancement system, either. And it pretty much doubles feats.

Read the whole thing at Dungeons & Dragons Online and share your insights.